December 19, 2015

International Day of Migrants 2015: behind migrant crisis, there is the capitalist crisis

This article was written in support of the World Federation of Democratic Youth's (WFDY) joint actions on the International Day of Migrants. WFDY's Commission on Europe and North America has launched a campaign for migrant rights and against imperialisms displacement of people.Adrien Welsh, chair of the Young Communist League of Canada's International Commission

On the International Day of Migrants, 18
December 2015, the Young Communist League of Canada joins with thousands of others
around the world to express its solidarity with the millions of women, men and
children forced every year to leave their country, family, home and job because
of war, economic need or climate change.

This year, the day of solidarity is
especially timely due to the international situation as well as the situation
in Canada. Capitalism has not exited the structural economic crisis it
experienced in 2008. Consequently, the ruling class continues to organize its
rushed offensive as it needs to ensure its control over new markets, access to
natural resources and cheap labor. To do so, the bourgeoisie will stop at
nothing. Every pocket of resistance to the imperialist plans must be destroyed.
Thus, after having financed supposedly moderate Islamist forces to combat the
infamous Bashar al-Assad in Syria, imperialism has no right to intervene now
under NATO, the armed wing of imperialism, for supposedly humanitarian
purposes. It is worthwhile to remember that Iraq is home to the fifth largest
oil reserves in the world.

Thus, in addition to killing more than
200,000 people since the conflict began in 2011, there are now more than 4
million displaced in the Fertile Crescent region.

In Ukraine, after supporting a coup
fomented with the help of fascist elements, the European Union, NATO and their
allies were delighted to have helped bring “democracy”. They were pleased to
have conquered a market of paramount importance to the geo-political strategic
plan for the expansion of their influence eastwards. To ensure their investment
however, they had to call in an increased military presence in Eastern Europe
and carry out bloody battles that left more than 6,400 dead and 1.4 million
displaced according to the UN, of which 10,000 a day cross the border into
neighbouring Russia.

Canada is partially responsible in both
cases. In Syria, Canada, beginning under the leadership of the Conservatives,
participated in air strikes, and now the new government says it will
restructure its mission by sending soldiers to play a “training” role. In
addition, an arms deal of $15 billion was signed between Canada and Saudi
Arabia, a leading funder of the Islamic State. In Ukraine, Canada maintains 300
troops as a reserve force for the illegitimate government supported by the
fascist forces of Kiev. In this context it is difficult to believe in the good
faith of the Liberals, who want to look good after the ten years of racist and
xenophobic policies of the Harper government, promising to accommodate 25,000
Syrian refugees - a tiny figure in comparison with countries such as Greece or
Germany who have so far received 160,000 and 1 million respectively.

We don’t participate in this political
theatre dominated by pyromaniac firefighters who present themselves as
humanitarians because they welcome some refugees, while at the same time
doubling efforts to cause havoc and break apart the whole Middle East. The
crimes of imperialism cannot be absolved. The Liberals, Conservatives, and not
even the New Democrats have had a clear position advocating for the dissolution
of NATO or for an international policy based on peace and international
solidarity. How can we believe in their good will and talk about “humanitarian
duty” when their actions actually make matters worse.

We are not among those who applauded Angela
Merkel when she announced in the middle of her party’s Convention to keep
German borders open to refugees. All European economists are in agreement, even
from the right wing, saying that this wave of immigrants will not harm the
economy. The latest figures actually show the opposite. In Canada as well, we
don’t believe the Liberals are accepting refugees only for reasons of charity.
New immigrants can be a way to help with problems of an aging population.

More generally, there is no doubt that
capitalists are in need of a more mobile and docile workforce capable of moving
according to the immediate interests of corporations. This cause of migration
affects the young people with full force. For example, in Spain since 2008,
more than 500 000 young people have left the country. Fleeing misery because of
the destruction of their country’s economy by imperialist powers, every year,
thousands of young Africans try to cross the Mediterranean Sea trying to find
the European El Dorado. In general, they become disenchanted quickly since at
best they are forced to join the ranks of precarious proletariat or of the
reserve army of labour (unemployment) and, at worse, they don’t reach the
opposite bank of the Sea. This year, there were 22 000 that perished in the
Mediterranean.

Migrant labour is a bargain for the ruling
class, which can use it to put downward pressure on all wages and working
conditions. This can be done by using the vulnerable situation of migrants to
force them to accept any kind of labour they can get, or, as in Canada, by
applying openly discriminatory immigration policies such as the Temporary
Foreign Worker Program. This is why we need not only to welcome migrants, but
also fight alongside them to guarantee the full respect of their rights as
workers, including the right to unionize.

Another important consequence of the crisis
of capitalism linked to migrant issues is the environmental crisis. As the
international meetings on climate change have just concluded in Paris, we must
remember that global warming is very real and has a direct impact on
populations. On a yearly average over the last ten years, about 27.5 million
people were forced to leave their homes by disasters. By 2050, the number of
displaced peoples is expected to rise to 1 billion climate refugees.

We find it necessary to use this day of
solidarity to recognize and value the contribution immigrants have brought to
our society, which is particularly important in Canada and all over North
America. We recall in particular their contribution to different episodes of
the history of progressive and workers’ movements such as the participation in
the organization of first labour and farmers’ unions, in the first massive
strikes and even in the formation of the Communist Party of Canada in the
1920s. We also recognize their cultural contribution as a collective good of
great value.

In the context of the aftermath of the
Paris attacks, there is no doubt that welcoming Syrian refugees will be
campaigned against by ultra right forces. In Germany, the party PEGIDA
mobilized thousands of people under islamophobic, racist and xenophobic slogans.
In France, arguments once used by the National Front are now being repeated by
the Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls. This dynamic is also present in
Canada where in the last few weeks instances of islamophobic hate crimes have
risen drastically.

It is necessary to organize our class’
refusal of this hate speech and above all to unveil how it serves the interests
of the capitalist system by dividing workers, by distracting the masses’
attention from the main enemy and by justifying further imperialist military
ventures in the Middle East. As internationalists, we restate that today more
than ever, that the number one enemy of the youth, workers and popular masses
are not immigrants, but capitalism - especially at its highest stage of
imperialism. Immigrants, on the contrary, share the interests of the vast
majority of the people: getting rid of this system’s barbarous burden that has
nothing else to offer other than war, misery and the destruction of our
environment.

Whether we are Canadians, Syrians or even
Trobrianders, we must unite to carry on our fight against the profiteers who
keep up attempts at dividing us, while at the same time they do not
discriminate when it comes to exploit us. This is why the Young Communist
League of Canada continues to demand:

Canada’s
immediate withdrawal from NATO, the armed fist of imperialism, and of all other
imperialist treaties; the development of a foreign policy based on peace,
disarmament, sustainable development and solidarity between peoples;

The
immediate withdrawal of all Canadian military forces mobilized outside of the
country starting with troops in Ukraine and in the Middle East;

The
immediate cancellation of the 15 billion dollar arms agreement signed with
Saudi Arabia, one of the principal sponsors of Daesh/ISIS;

The
welcoming of all immigrants and asylum seekers – no one is illegal;

The
elimination of laws on immigration and refugee statuses that give priority to
wealthy people, creating multiple tiers of migrants, and the end of temporary
foreign worker programs that disposes migrants them from their rights. Full
status for all. All migrants worker rights should be guaranteed including the
right to unionize and to go on strike;

The
repeal of Bill C-51 which attacks democratic rights under the pretext of the
“war against terrorism” and of Bill C-24 which allows the withdrawal of
Canadian citizenship to individuals convicted of “terrorism” and “treason”;

A
strengthening of the fight against islamophobia and all xenophobic and racist
crimes, with stronger enforcement and more severe charges for people guilty of
such crimes.